The family of Meredith Kercher, who was murdered in 2007, is slamming Amanda Knox for her involvement in a Hulu series about the aftermath of the brutal slaying
Meredith Kercher’s family lawyer has launched a blistering broadside against Amanda Knox following the release of the new series based on the aftermath of the 2007 murder and trial.
The 38-year-old has executive-produced K.J. Steinberg’s eight-part Hulu series, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox, which is based closely on her memoir. Grace Van Patten stars as Amanda.
Now, following the show’s New York premiere on Tuesday, for which the exonerated American appeared on the red carpet grinning alongside Monica Lewinsky, Kercher family attorney Francesco Maresca has hit out, telling The Mirror, “The important thing is that Amanda Knox clearly wants this case to continue.”
“It would be nice and dignified to watch a program or TV show where everything is reconstructed, remembering the life and smile of poor Meredith.” Mr Maresca added, “Instead, once again, we have to witness an attempt to reshuffle the cards, and where the trailer states, ‘Amanda fights tirelessly to prove her innocence and regain her freedom.’ Once again, the focus is on Knox.”
When the show was first announced last year, Meredith’s sister, Stephanie, said, “It is difficult to understand how this serves any purpose.” At the time, Maresca said Amanda’s projects surrounding Meredith’s murder and the media circus that followed continued to be “inappropriate and disrespectful towards the memory of Meredith,” claiming the Perugia trial had become a vehicle for her to monetise her notoriety.
“Ms. Knox, after so many years, should respect the silence and memory,” he said, as filming took place in the same Italian town where the 21-year-old was killed.
In November 2007, Leeds University student Meredith was sexually assaulted, before having her throat slashed and stabbed 47 times while studying in Perugia. Meredith’s roommate, Amanda, and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were initially convicted of her murder along with Rudy Guede. The charges brought on a media firestorm as she was dubbed ‘Foxy Knoxy’ by the press.
The couple were found guilty in 2009 but were freed on appeal two years later. Their guilty verdict was reinstated in 2014 but quashed by Italy’s top court in March 2015. The mother of two has since capitalized on her experience by writing a book, releasing a Netflix documentary, recording numerous podcasts, and making several speaking appearances, some in Italy.
Despite the objections from locals in Perugia and those close to Meredith, she pressed ahead with the series, with Monica Lewinsky acting as executive producer. Their friendship formed in 2017 during a speaking event two years after Amanda was exonerated, and has since developed into a professional partnership.
This week, ahead of the August 20 premiere, the Seattle native also discussed explaining the case to her 4-year-old daughter, Eureka, telling her, “It’s very simple. When Mommy was young, Mommy went to Italy, and she made friends and she had fun, but then someone hurt her friend, and the police thought Mommy hurt her friend, and so they put Mommy in jail.
“Mommy was in jail for a long time, and she was very sad. But then one day, Mommy proved that she was innocent, and she got to go home, and then she met your daddy and had you and lived happily ever after.”
Critics say the new series and Amanda’s repeated public retellings amount to a relentless attempt to monetize a tragedy in which she was tangentially involved, rather than a genuine reckoning. Others have questioned whether such projects serve any purpose beyond self-promotion, noting the continued pain for Merediths family and the sensationalism of revisiting the widely reported case.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is streaming on Hulu.
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